Wage and hour lawsuits hit record hit, study finds
It appears 2012 is becoming the year of the wage and hour lawsuit as numbers of these cases continue to rise, reaching the highest rates in more than 10 years, according to a recent report by employee attorneys Seyfarth and Shaw. The lawyers found the number of suits reached 7,064 for the year, up from 7,006 in 2011.
There has been a steady rise is the number of lawsuits since 1993 when there were only 1,457, the report found. Rates remained lower throughout the 1990's, but increased in 2007. This recent trend has been attributed to the economic recession, which forced many employers to cut back on their payroll budgets in order to stay in business.
Some required smaller staffs to perform more work, which might have lead to overtime. If nonexempt employees worked in excess of 40 hours in a pay period without receiving premium pay for that time attendance, they might be able to file a suit to collect back pay.
Employers can easily avoid these cases by ensuring their payroll practices remain in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regardless of economic conditions. A timeclock can make it easy for businesses to track employees' hour worked and issue accurate paychecks.
There has been a steady rise is the number of lawsuits since 1993 when there were only 1,457, the report found. Rates remained lower throughout the 1990's, but increased in 2007. This recent trend has been attributed to the economic recession, which forced many employers to cut back on their payroll budgets in order to stay in business.
Some required smaller staffs to perform more work, which might have lead to overtime. If nonexempt employees worked in excess of 40 hours in a pay period without receiving premium pay for that time attendance, they might be able to file a suit to collect back pay.
Employers can easily avoid these cases by ensuring their payroll practices remain in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regardless of economic conditions. A timeclock can make it easy for businesses to track employees' hour worked and issue accurate paychecks.
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